Little Children, Big Sorrows
by Nefer Lio
Summary: Scarab just won't give up. When he puts a curse on the mummies, their strength quickly fades. How will they be able to protect the prince?


There might be even more stories to come till I start losing my obsession with Mummies Alive! Until then, the same warnings apply to every story:

1. English is not my first language, but I like to improve it, so please tell me what I did wrong.

2. I do not own Mummies Alive!

3. If there are still fans out there, I'd love to get in touch. So please feel free to PM me or leave a comment.

Hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

**Little Children, Big Sorrows**

Ja-Kal woke up so suddenly he almost smashed his head into his coffin door. He had had a horrible nightmare of Rapses being killed by a giant stone, and was still shaking from the experience. Breathing slowly, he started to calm. The prince was safe; they had made sure the other night.

The day before, Scarab had not been the threat for once. It was Geb's and Net's anniversary. The spirit of the earth had again done something wrong, and of course did not know what it was and how to undo it. Ja-Kal had not understand why exactly, but Rath's idea of giving Net some kind of magical Rock had worked and the two of them had set off into the sunset together. He had taken a vow to catch up on his knowledge of gods and goddesses after that.

He closed his eyes and started to relax – the lion must not think of the cubs, if he wishes to kill the gazelle. So for a moment, Ja-Kal just cleared his mind, and the first think that he noticed was that his bandages were loose. Now you cannot be an Egyptian mummy without having to rebandage yourself every now and then – but this time he believed the wrappings to be a lot more loose than usual.

With a soft push he opened the sarcophagus and stepped out, walking over to the mirror and taking a good look at himself. His skin looked reddish pale, but that might have been due to the neon light. He was a lot more concerned about his body – it looked skinny to him, but he could not figure out why that might be. Without a metabolism his muscle mass could not wither away, at least he thought so.

Still in thought he heard a loud bang and a cry for help. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from the coffins, more accurate from the inside of Nefer-Tina's sarcophagus. He stepped over to it and hesitated – the female mummy was known for fits of rage if someone were to wake her early – even or especially when she was having a bad dream.

After another deep breath, the good guy in him won and he opened the coffin's door. But instead of going eye to eye with his friend, he looked down on a frightened little girl, who used his bafflement to dash out.

He turned around to get the kid, when next of him another sarcophagus opened. "What's this racket about", Rath questioned, and got a prompt answer: "There's a kid in the sphinx." The scribe laughed, or tried to anyways. "That's impossible", he finally spat, "I myself made sure there were no holes for anyone to slip into our hideout."

"Seems like she found a way", Ja-Kal returned and pointed towards the grave that looked like a cat, "she managed to get herself trapped in Nefer-Tina's sarcophagus." – "So where is our wayward charioteer? Clearly even she should be sleeping by now", Rath said, and fumbled on his bandages – Ja-Kal registered that Rath looked even thinner than before, and his skin had a red tint, too. Were his eyes playing a trick on him?

Since the leader did not show any kind of reaction, Rath urged him: "You know it's your task to make her stay home like the rest of us." – "What she does with her time of is her cup of beer", Ja-Kal reasoned, getting more and more angry for a reason even unknown to him, "as long as she does a good job protecting Rapses, I will not tell her how to spent her evening." He took another deep breath, because his voice was shaking with anger, and told the scribe firmly: "Besides, we have other things to worry about. For Ra's sake, there's a CHILD in the sphinx."

The two men moved as on a hidden signal, the scribe following the hunter. In the hallway leading to the bathroom they found something so absurd, even the 3500 year old resurrected mummies were rendered speechless.

Before them raged a cat fight. Kathi had grown and was circling what appeared to be a kitty guardian. The kid, who was obviously alive and about seven years old, had an armor that seemed to be modeled after Nefer-Tina's, and was hissing at the sacred cat. She stood on all fours, holding her Egyptian skirt with one hand, so it would not slide down. Additionally the little girl appeared to have tried to bandage herself, as was obvious due to many bandages lying around the two fighting cats.

Rath was the first to regain his composure: "Could that be… Nefer-Tina's daughter?" The fearless leader looked quite frightened, he had caught a glimpse of the kid's sparkling grayish blue eyes, too. There were just like Nefer-Tina's, and her black long hair might have fitted too, even though he could not possible know what hair color the charioteer had had.

"If she went dancing back then as much as today", the scribe interrupted Ja-Kal's thoughts, not finishing the sentence. The falcon warrior shook his head, not wanting to believe: "Impossible! We would have found out, if she ever got pregnant." – "Like we found out she was a girl", was the rather snotty reply.

That moment the two cats started the actual fight, clawing at each other, growling and rolling over the ground. The two mummies had to do something. "Rath, take the cat", Ja-Kal ordered, and glared at Rath when he asked innocently: "Which one?"

The both of them went to separate the fighters. The scribe took Kahti and carried her into the living room. Ja-Kal on the other hand took the girl, spinning her so she was facing him. "Are you related to Nefer-Tina", he questioned her strictly. The kid looked at him with big surprised eyes and nodded.

"Can you discharge your armor", Ja-Kal then asked, unsure if she had worn the same clothes when he had met her in front of the sarcophagus. The child nodded and magically removed her armor – with the result that she was now almost naked, safe for the big skirt and the sporadic bandages.

He did not think, he just turned around and put a hand over his eyes, mumbling an apology. He knew the kid was too young to be ashamed, but it just felt wrong. "Please call your armor again, until we get you something to dress", he told her, moving down the hall.

Some weeks ago the mummies had raided a charity collection bin full of clothes, and they had kept even the ones that were way too small. Probably that had been a really good idea. "Okay, put your hands up, uncharged your armor, and while you do that, I'll put a shirt on you", Ja-Kal stated, counted to three, and seconds later the kid stood there in a t-shirt. In exchange her skirt had fallen down, because she could not hold it with her hands up.

Ja-Kal proceeded to give her clothes and finally managed to get the kid decent. He told her "Follow me!" and went to the living room, where Rath and Kahti waited. The later hissed at the kid as they entered.

"I think the kid's no danger", Ja-Kal told the other man, who just wrinkled his nose: "No danger? Why is she here? Why is she alone? Where is Nefer-Tina? Even if it wasn't her child, it is her duty as woman to care for it."

A rumbling caught their attention – Armon was waking up. The door of his sarcophagus opened, and out walked a boy a bit older than Presley with black skin that was wrapped in bandages. Was that the ram warrior?

"What's up, guys", the boy laughed, "you look like you've seen a ghost!" – "Armon", Rath questioned, his voice shaking. The black boy seemed worried: "What's the matter with you, Rath." Only now he looked down and was horrified: "Why am I black again?" He looked at the mirror. "Why am I a kid?"

"It appears Scarab made us younger", Rath stated matter-of-factly and Armon nodded wisely: "So that's why you two look so thin and reddish?" Ja-Kal did not even hear that, he had a thought that made him swallowed hard: "Nefer-Tina is still out there somewhere. And if she is as young as Armon…" All of them calculated and moved their head to stare at the girl, who had not left Ja-Kals side.

Ja-Kal kneeled down to her, mustering her. "Nefer-Tina", he whispered softly and got a nod. He could not say why, but at that moment he felt angry, frustrated and utterly helpless. "Could we get something to eat", the question stemmed of course from Armon, who held his aching tummy.

"Yes, let's", the leader decided, and went to the kitchen. Nefer-Tina still followed him. First he tried to look at her with an enquiring look, but when that did not help he asked her verbally why she was following him. "You told me to follow", came the quick reply. He tried to smile warmly, but only being near her made him frustrated: "Or you could go to the others." She shook her head. "Why not?" – "You don't want me anymore", the kid asked, tears welling up her eyes.

With a sigh, Ja-Kal gave up: "Fine, follow me if you want to!"

* * *

"You made your arch nemesis younger", Heka questioned Scarab. The both of them were at the top of their pyramid, watching the city. Scarab growled in return: "They won't be able to fool my plans now!" - "So why exactly didn't you use this magic on yourself, instead of trying to get to Rapses's spirit", his staff asked after a long moment of silence.

The old wizard glared at his servant and almost bellowed: "Do you think I'm stupid." Heka did not say a word, but her eyes managed to say yes regardless. "This magic costs the enchanted person a day of their life span for every year they are made younger." – "They're dead", the snake stated, sounding amused, and got squeezed hard for that interjection: "I know they will not suffer the consequences of the spell, but they will be no threat, either, since none of them had started working for the pharaoh, yet."

"So what this fabulous amulet for", Heka asked, looking at a gold medallion around her masters neck. He toke it in his hand, caressing it almost gently, when he told her: "Such powerful magic is hard to maintain, even for a potent sorcerer like myself. So this amulet is an enhancer. I got the idea from the medallions the mummies use; else probably even the 'magical' Rath would have had a hard time transforming."

Heka thought about that information for a bit. She had always wondered how the mummies were able to transform into their armor, especially since they were not able to do that back in Egypt. She wanted to ask another question, but she could clearly see on her master's face, that he would not allow for another interruption. So she hold her tongue for now - she might have been cheeky, but she was neither stupid nor suicidal.

* * *

Back at the sphinx the guys had just finished eating breakfast. Armon had eaten unusually little, even though for a kid of his size, it had been quite a lot. Now Ja-Kal and his ever present follower where clearing the table.

"Next, all of us will change into modern clothes", he commanded, went to fetch his usual clothes and entered an unused room. "Out", he ordered harshly, as he heard the door open, while in the midst of unwrapping.

"You told me to follow", it was Nefer-Tina again, and Ja-Kal just did not know what to make of her – she was not cheerful, she was not hyperactive, she was just a shy little kid who said not one word more than absolutely necessary. The problem was that he of all people took pity on her.

"Well not when I'm changing", he answered without looking up. Since he did not hear the door again, he moved so that he could see her. The girl stood there, her back to him, and even though he could not see her face, she looked incredibly sad. The leader decided to let the order go, and restarted his unwrapping.

"So do you remember anything", he questioned, slowly unbandaging his right arm. He had to look at her to see her nodding her head. He was not really convinced: "So what are you of prince Rapses?" – "Guardian", came the short reply that started to make Ja-Kal really uneasy. Who was this girl?

"Who is your patron goddess", he probed again, but this time there was no reply. Maybe it was not so bad after all, that the kid followed him. "Do you know who your patron is", he questioned, now unwrapping his chest. Nefer-Tina nodded. "So who is it?"

A long moment of silence later she quietly responded: "Bathtet." Ja-Kal could not help but laugh – he told himself it was because he was missing a decade of training as the royal lead hunter. But only moments later he regretted that, since the girl let her head hang, starring sadly at the floor.

"Oh no, no, no", he exclaimed, running half naked towards her and kneeling next to the kid, stroking her back, "I didn't mean to laugh at your lisp. It's probably not even your fault! Show me your teeth!" She looked at him sadly, but managed to flash her teeth for a small moment. "See", he told her, pointing to a spot on her lip, "you have a gap between your teeth, no wonder you're lisping. It'll go away when you grow up."

All this was said without thinking, Ja-Kal just wanted to comfort the sad child in front of him. But when his own words sank in, it hit him hard: Nefer-Tina should KNOW her childish lisping would go away – Ja-Kal had never heard her lisp once. So why was she so sad, why was she shy? Something with Nefer-Tina's childhood seemed off, and it hurt him thinking about who or what might be responsible for that.

He sighted again and got away from her to change as fast as humanly possible. Then the both of them went back to met the others, who were now also dressed.

"Why is she following you", Rath questioned, as the both of them walked in. The leader looked at the kid and back at him: "Because I told her so." – "You told her to follow you to where you are changing", Armon asked, honestly confused. Rath just made a sound like "mpf" – he of course had realized their leader's affection towards the young charioteer, but making a move while she was a child was just wrong.

"No, I told her before breakfast", Ja-Kal wanted to explain, but was cut off by Rath stating something he thought to be more important: "I talked to Armon. He still has the memories of being an adult, but his grasp on reality is child-like." – "So… he's a child", the hunter questioned, trying to absorb the information. Rath just snickered: "And now he looks like one, too."

Nefer-Tina had not moved from Ja-Kal's side, but was glaring at Kahti. The sacred cat arched her back and hissed back at the child. "What is with you and the cat", Rath questioned, no emotion in his voice – he did not seem to be affected by her childlike cuteness at all. The girl looked to him, and mumbled: "I hate the cat." All of the males looked at her shocked, but she did not seem to realize and kept talking in a quiet voice: "They're all so arrogant. They run around not caring what the people around them think."

"Oh boy, someone has an identity crisis here", Rath said, laughing dryly. When Nefer-Tina looked at him he stopped, but was not entirely sure, if she even understood what he had said. After all – she had the mind of a child now.

"Stop your quarrel, we have to get to Presley's", Ja-Kal informed the others, and looking at each of them seriously he saw Nefer-Tina's eyes light up. It made his flesh crawl. "I wanna drive", she explained, jumping up and down. "No", he simply told her, along with Armon and Rath, who were probably afraid for their lives. But the girl just did not want to take no for an answer: "But I'm the royal charioteer!" Another no of the males, and it became painfully obvious that logic was lost to the child.

So Ja-Kal decided that he would have to cave in – at least somewhat: "Okay, tell you what: The both of us will drive the Jet Cycle, I'll let you sit in front of me, so it will almost be as if you're driving." Nefer-Tina seemed to think about that proposal, while Rath took the time to put his hand on the leaders shoulder: "Do you really think it is a good idea to give into her whining?"

"Who's giving in", Ja-Kal asked, annoyed that the scribe would erode his authority, "we had to rip out two of the backseats of the Hot-Rah yesterday to transport that magical stone. I'm just using the resources we have to make everyone happy." – "You're only making Nefer-Tina happy", Rath stated coldly. For loss at words, Ja-Kal just took the girls hands and led her towards the garage.

As the kid climbed onto the motorcycle, Ja-Kal threw her a round object. "What'th that", she questioned, looking the thing over. He grimaced: "It's a helmet." – "I don't wear a helmet", she told him, which was not the entire truth, which the leader quickly pointed out: "You did back in Egypt."

Nefer-Tina looked at him somewhat angry, then jumped from the Jet Cycle and put the helmet away. Of course, a minute later Ja-Kal had taken it again and put it on her head. "You're wearing one now", he told her in what he believed was a firm voice – he was not actually sure since he just knew her childishness was affecting him, "you're neither an adult nor undead. I order you!"

In what appeared to be a sign of defiance, Nefer-Tina took the headdress off again - but when the hunter wanted to scream at her he saw her adjusting the length of the straps, so the helmet would fit.

"Are you wearing a helmet, too", she questioned him, obviously not taking no for an answer. He wanted to complain about there being no head protection to wear, when she quietly walked over to a stone locker and pulled something out. "That's your helmet from when you were Nefer", he stated the apparent, "it'll never fit."

She gave him the golden object, and he humored her by trying to put it on. It fit perfectly. "Wow, you do have a big head", he told her, while helping her with the straps she was still fumbling with. Nefer-Tina just showed the tiniest little smile: "No, only a lot of hair."

When her smile faded as quickly as it had come, that was the final straw: Something was off. Ja-Kal looked around the room, as if to make sure nobody was listening, and then said: "May I ask you something?" She nodded, and suddenly a realization hit him hard – she was not shy in the common sense, the reason she said only so little was she was afraid of making a mistake – the mistake of lisping in that case. That's why she avoided words with S, which he thought she was doing an incredible job at. But since when had she been so self-conscious?

"You're quite different now than when you were an adult", he told her, even though the sentence sounded really stupid. She looked at him as if searching for something: "You don't like me now?" Ja-Kal was a bit taken aback – that sentence alone together with her sad eyes proofed his theory. He laid a hand on her shoulder and told her firmly: "No, I was just wondering why that might be."

The kid shrugged and jumped on the motorcycle again. "Mother and father did not have much time for me", she said looking at a spot in front of her, "they were good people, but we were poor and having something to eat wath more important than playing with a child. I wath never sure if they really cared. Even when I became a royal charioteer, they had not been proud – they were afraid for my life."

This little story had a big effect on Ja-Kal, much more than it should have. He knew "Nefer" had not been from noble heritage like most of the other guardians around the palace – but listening to a friend of his talking with so much bitterness about her own childhood was hurting him. Much more since a small child with sad eyes and a thin voice had told him this.

Unsure of what to do, he rubbed her back when he climbed behind her on the Jet Cycle. "I'm sure they loved you very much", he told her from his heart, "how could they not?"

* * *

Even though they had needed so much time to get to Presley's, they arrived there still way before Rath and Armon. The scribe might have been a much better driver than Nefer-Tina, but he was so slow, even Ja-Kal had to resist the urge to get out of the car and push-start it.

Now he stood in front of the house, watching his youngest guardian friend playing with the Jet Cycle. "Vroom", Nefer-Tina made, as she sat on the motorcycle, leaning left and right. It was quite amazing how someone, who had – as the leader knew too well – the need for speed, was satisfied with pretending to drive.

"Nefer-Tina", he shouted over to her, when the other two guardians arrived, "come on! We're complete!" She just laid more to the left, almost falling off: "Vroom!" Ja-Kal signed and decided the kid was not worth the trouble. "We'll go inside if you need us", he told her, and had not even finished, when the girl dashed past him, shouting: "I wanna ring!"

And so she did. Some moments later, Amanda, the prince's mother, opened the door with a puzzled look on her face. Ja-Kal had to stifle a laugh, as Nefer-Tina got scared and ducked behind him for cover. Earnestly, he told the woman of the house: "We are friends of Presley. May we have a word with him?"

* * *

"So you're young", Presley recapped skeptically, "what kind of attack plan is that?" – "Well, oh prince", the scribe told him, "we are a lot weaker than before. I, for once, have a really small magic pool, Ja-Kal lacks his training as a hunter and your guardian, Armon misses his magical Arm, and Nefer-Tina…" All of them looked over to the kid, who was jumping up and down on the bed with never-ending energy. "… granted, she is her usual self." As she registered they were watching her, she shyly sat down next to Ja-Kal and tried to hide her face behind his arm.

"Why didn't Scarab make himself young", the reincarnated prince questioned, looking over to his female friend with confusion. Ja-Kal, who had started rubbing Nefer-Tina's back, answered: "There are probably dire side effects he doesn't want to endure." He took a deep breath, knowing full well Presley would not like was he about to say. "We have to stand by you at any time."

As all of them had anticipated, the young boy did not like that. Sarcastically, he told them: "Well that is no problem at all! Armon is young enough to be in my class!"

* * *

"I can't believe they put you in my class", Presley told Armon absolutely furious, when the two of them walked from the parking lot towards the school. The black boy just shrugged and ate his sandwich as some kind of second or third breakfast.

The other three guardians stood next to the Hot-Rah and the Jet Cycle, watching the two. "So what do we do", Ja-Kal questioned his friend Rath, who answered: "I'll try to find a cure for our youth. You can keep the kid out of my hair." – "Why me", the leader almost spat, since he felt way too overqualified to be a nanny. The scribe just grinned: "Because she follows you!"

Both of them looked at Nefer-Tina, who clang to the hunter's jacket and watched some other kids in a distance. She did not seem to register that the men had talked about her. She was only jolted out of her daydreaming, when the Hot-Rah drove away.

She looked up to Ja-Kal, who was sighting heavily. He tried to force a smile while looking at her and asked her sweetly: "So what now?"

* * *

Hours had passed since then. Back at the sphinx Rath was immersed in his work, as the other two entered the room. He stood before a pile of scrolls, amulets and magical ingredients. "Do you need any help", Ja-Kal questioned.

Rath did not react at first; his gaze was fixed on his scrolls. Absentminded, he asked: "Did you already finish babysitting?" – "No. But I'm going crazy not doing anything productive", the leader told him. The scribe looked up and saw his leader and right next to him the former charioteer, looking somewhat scared at him.

"You could fix the Hot-Rah", Rath told him, trying not to look accusing to Nefer-Tina, because this time it just was not her fault. Ja-Kal on the other hand looked at her questioningly and asked: "When did it break?"

She did not answer, but Rath did: "Remember how we ripped out some of the seats to deliver the magical stone to Geb's bride on their wedding day?" Ja-Kal hit his flat palm against his head – he had actually forgotten their last mission, even though it was just hours ago. He really needed a break; the kid was driving him crazy.

"I'm going on patrol around Rapses's school", he decided because of that. As he marched out, he heard some small steps next to him and an innocent question: "Can I come?"

* * *

At least he was on patrol. Ja-Kal stood on his watching post, surveying Presley's school. Behind him Nefer-Tina played on a playground with a group of other children. He was amazed at how she did not even remember her duty. Maybe she could not grasp it anymore with her childlike personality.

When he saw Presley and Armon leaving the school, he called for the girl and the both of them followed the other two. They caught up to them by the park next to the San Francisco bay area.

"How was school", Ja-Kal asked the two boys, who both groaned in frustration, "I mean: Did you see something suspicious?" Armon and Presley looked at one another and shrugged. "No", the reincarnated prince said simply.

"Are you looking for someone", a familiar voice questioned, and all of them spun around to face their archenemy. "Scarab", Ja-Kal practically snared. Quickly, he gave instructions to his fosterlings: "Rapses, call for Rath! Armon, try getting him to safety! Nefer-Tina…" He looked down at the young girl, who looked exactly as frightened as a girl facing a human bug should, and decided just controlling her bladder might be a big enough task already.

"With the strength of Ra", the guardians screamed and started attacking the Shabtis that just at that moment started leaking out from everywhere. Ja-Kal had a really hard time kicking with so much force that the Shabtis started crumbling. He looked over to Armon, who was not doing much better, but at least he kept the Shabtis from hurting the prince, who was calling Rath with his amulet.

He destroyed two more of the clay warriors and looked over, but he did not see Nefer-Tina everywhere. Even though he tried to fight it, he was worrying about her even more than about Presley – he tried to convince himself it was because she was much younger.

There was a strange noise as if a kitten was trying to roar – which was exactly what it was. The kitty warrior meowed and attacked Scarab from behind, burying her claws in his back. The old sorcerer screamed mostly because of the surprise and grabbed the kid's head. In one fluent motion, he threw her over the cliff right next to them.

The guardians' leader only needed a second to decide, before he leaped after her, caught her, expanded his wings and flew her to safety.

Back on the top of the cliff Armon and Presley were circled by Shabtis. Both took fighting stances and took a big breath, as the Hot-Rah spun into action. Rath navigated the vehicle to smash into as much Shabtis as possible, spinning around the two boys.

As he came to a halt, Ja-Kal just flew over the edge of the cliff upwards. On his back kneeled Nefer-Tina, who held his shoulders and appeared to be driving him. She even made her "Vroom! Vroom!" noises again.

"What are you doing", he questioned her, as he felt her moving on top of him. He did not get an answer until she jumped. Frightened, he tried to grab her wrist again to keep her from falling, but she managed to land on her paws on the back of Scarab, her extended claws dug into the already present wounds and cut a string around his neck. With a loud clonk, the golden medallion Scarab was wearing fell to the ground, leaving a big dent on it.

At the same time, all of the guardians got a growth spurt. Ja-Kal got muscular, Rath got at least some meat on his bones, Armon managed to grow eight inches in height and even more than that in width, but lost his arm in the progression. He also ripped most of his clothes, as did Nefer-Tina, who also grew a lot, even though her body height was not the main problem when her outfit started to tear.

With the guardians being almost as old as they had when they had died, and being multiple times more powerful than back in Egypt due to their amulets, the tide had finally turned. Shabti parts were flying everywhere. Even with only Armon fighting and Rath driving around in the Hot-Rah, the both of them kept all of the clay warriors at bay.

That left the other two guardians with Scarab. The beetle man was moving like crazy, trying to get Nefer-Tina off his back; she on the other hand seemed to have a lot of fun riding this make-shift rodeo.

As Ja-Kal in front of them pulled his first magical arrow, Scarab did what he always did best: He fled. That was the cue for Nefer-Tina to jump of his back – she might be wayward, but there was no way she would fly to Scarab's lair scantily glad as she was.

After crashing the last Shabtis, the four guardians and Presley met around the medallion that their enemy had dropped. Still there was a big dent on its left side. Rath took it and analyzed it.

"It seems this amulet is responsible for us being cursed with youth", he told the others, "if we destroy it, everything will go back to normal." – "But I like being alive again", Nefer-Tina interrupted him pleadingly. All of the males looked at her – and all of their jaws dropped in sync to the ground. She might have been beautiful before, and even more so when she had been on the receiving end of the youth potion – but now she looked like she had back in Egypt. How she ever passed as a boy was beyond them. Plus, there were almost no clothes at all to constrict the view. When Rath realized, he put his hand over Presley's eyes, who of course groaned.

"Ja-Kal, please", she pleaded, absolutely obvious to the guys gawking – she probably was not used to this sort of thing from living as a boy for too long. Rath did not like her persuasion a bit. He of course registered that the leader had a really hard time telling her no. And even though he denied it, the scribe knew just too well that Ja-Kal had found Nefer-Tina to be cute even before she became a child. Why was beyond him, she was a brat to him, no matter how old she actually was.

"Look at me, Ja-Kal", Rath ordered, because he knew he had no chance against a naked female body, "this magic is too powerful. That's why Scarab wouldn't use it on himself. We want to get rid of the curse; else we won't know what might happen."

The scribe was right, of course, Ja-Kal knew that well. But Nefer-Tina had her perks, too. Well her opinion had, he corrected himself quickly. The leader could really only do one thing. He took the amulet, threw it in the air, and destroyed it with a magical arrow. All of them started decomposting until they were undead again, mummies without their bandages, but of course, still in their clothes and armor.

"That leaves only one problem: Not all us fit into the Hot-Rah, since nobody fixed the seats", Rath said, looking at Ja-Kal quite icy. Armon only shrugged good-natured: "Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina flew together to our school. They can fly back together now, can't they?" The two looked at one another and started searching for an objective reason not to, but none came to mind.

"But I'm the charioteer", Nefer-Tina said after a while – it was a weak argument anyway, since the other three were already buckling up. The driver, Rath, laughed: "You lost a baby tooth this morning – you probably shouldn't drive." He started the car and drove away.

"It wathn't this morning", she told no one in particular, but it made Ja-Kal stifle a laugh. Did she really just lisp again? She took a deep breath and looked angrily at her leader: "I bit my tongue in the battle." After a moment where neither said anything, she told him: "Just fly me home!"

He took her into his arms, as he did hours earlier, when she was a kid, and started flying. It was quite uncomfortable, but not only due to the position. "That was easier when you were a kid", he told her to break the ice. She did not react at first, but then responded: "Is now a bad time to tell you that that is not my shoulder you're clutching to?"


End file.
